I used CommunityWalk, an excellent website that uses the Google Maps API. I could have created and saved a map on Google Maps itself, but CommunityWalk has many more features, including the creation of different categories of markers, which can be toggled on and off. (On another blog I've written up a comparison between Google Maps and CommunityWalk.)

What's great about this map? Well, as I said, I love maps. But besides entertaining me, it also has real uses. For example, the system we use to determine whether an address is in our district or not doesn't always work - sometimes it chokes on the address, and claims the address is invalid. I can look up the address on our map, however, and find out immediately whether it falls inside our boundaries.

The map also allows us to map other points of interest within our district - for example, mapping our office locations, the locations of community centers, the boundaries of the 9th Assembly District (which Darrell used to represent), libraries, schools, the boundaries of neighborhood associations, etc.

Creating the map was an extremely painstaking process - CommunityWalk cannot import the data format most maps are stored in (I'm not familiar with that format, anyway). I had to manually enter each bend and turn of the district's boundaries, using a large physical map for guidance. Whew! But it was worth it.

I like maps - they're great examples of how to visualize things properly. Some data just shouldn't be displayed except on a map.

We have maps of Senator Steinberg's district, of course, but most of them are printed out. The maps we do have electronically are images on websites, which aren't interactive.

I used CommunityWalk, an excellent website that uses the Google Maps API. I could have created and saved a map on Google Maps itself, but CommunityWalk has many more features, including the creation of different categories of markers, which can be toggled on and off. (On another blog I've written up a comparison between Google Maps and CommunityWalk.)

What's great about this map? Well, as I said, I love maps. But besides entertaining me, it also has real uses. For example, the system we use to determine whether an address is in our district or not doesn't always work - sometimes it chokes on the address, and claims the address is invalid. I can look up the address on our map, however, and find out immediately whether it falls inside our boundaries.

The map also allows us to map other points of interest within our district - for example, mapping our office locations, the locations of community centers, the boundaries of the 9th Assembly District (which Darrell used to represent), libraries, schools, the boundaries of neighborhood associations, etc.

Creating the map was an extremely painstaking process - CommunityWalk cannot import the data format most maps are stored in (I'm not familiar with that format, anyway). I had to manually enter each bend and turn of the district's boundaries, using a large physical map for guidance. Whew! But it was worth it.